Fergus
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Everything posted by Fergus
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On the subject of poke nets, does anyone have a poke net pattern that works well. I'm looking to knit a couple for myself. Thanks.
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You could try googling 'Haverford netting'' in Sydney Australia. They sell sheet netting and also spun nylon that I used to knit a long net. There aren't too many people that use long nets in my part of Australia and most that do use them in conjunction with ferrets. Kangaroos would smash nets intended for rabbits in many places here at night so it's a bit limited to long netting with ferrets around burrows. I noticed a fair few rabbits around the otago peninsula when I was there ten years ago. All the best
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Gee feel sorry for you guys struggling to gain some ferreting permission. In my part of the world it is very rare to get told "no". There are a few ferreters about but there is also no real landholder loyalty to anyone who ferrets on their property. Landholders will likely let another person ferret there after you. This makes little difference as there is more than enough other places to go than I have time for. Saying that there aren't, rabbits everywhere or massive numbers. All the best finding a start.
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1 inch heavy duty 316 grade stainless steel rings. Shouldn't rust like some of the cheaper ones I have.
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Take all the time you need. The first couple I made weren't very well knotted but with practise you will get it.I found double knots easier and you tube videos will certainly assist you if you don't have someone to show you first hand. Sewing the meshes directly onto the rings works well enough and decreasing meshes on the second last mesh as opposed to the last mesh makes it neater also. Stick with it and you will find it super easy and very rewarding netting rabbits with nets crafted by your own hands.
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Ferret kits sell for around 20$ here and the first few to advertise sell quick and then many get stuck with kits that are hard to sell or give away. Basic supply and demand . Then come winter people want to buy ferrets and there are very few about so you can ask for 50$ and likely get it. The hardest part is finding owners that are going to give them as good a life as you give yours or better. Now I've got my working stock I never want to breed again.
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Always named mine to identify them especially since they are all polecats and look similar. Unfortunately the old wives tales exist here too like; snap off the canine teeth, feed them bread and milk, vicious ferrets work the best etc. It's all rubbish as you blokes well know. Pity everyone else doesn't know it
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Rusty there have been folks in oz importing ferret finders over the years however none to the best of my knowledge currently are. When I looked into a mk3m it was cheaper to buy it from the UK anyway, which I did. Definitely worth the money a locator even though no other ferreters I know own one. Bells can be used when ferreting rabbits in blackberry heaps and the like for rabbits above the ground. I can PM you where I got my locator if you wish, let me know.
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That's the pattern I am knitting at the moment, although I haven't had the chance to put them to use yet.
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On the topic of shaped nets....Do you guys decrease a mesh on the outermost loop or alternatively the second last/second in? Does it matter if two meshes are knitted together on the net edge or just on the second loop inside the net? Hope that makes sense...
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Feed them lean meat and plenty of exercise i would say.
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I have a Mk 3m and its really good. They take a bit of practice to get used to. Just one tip- I always go 'search' mode, 'locate' mode and finally 'pinpoint' mode to get the reading before digging. The key is using the pin pointer I reckon. Mk1 are the essence of simplicity and easy to use- albeit no longer made so second hand is your'e only option there.
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They're handy pieces of equipment and once you have used one you wouldn't be without it. Makes retrieving a rabbit and ferret easier because you know exactly where and how deep it is to dig to. If its an easy dig it also saves you time by digging out the ferret/rabbit and moving on to the next burrows. Without a box and collar all you can do is wait for the ferret to come out. They also let you ferret areas with some more brush/cover with confidence knowing where your workers are. If you value your ferrets and have the coin-get one and enough collars for all of your troops.
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They look like a "friendly rabbit trap". I have a couple and they are marketed to not nessisarily needing to be used in conjucntion with ferrets. Just set them in a warren and come back the next day. You can make your own just out of heavy gauge chicken wire without trap doors to use with ferrets. Just make it like a rolled tube and taper from the opening to a small tight enclosed end. The rabbit gets driven in to the end of the tube net and can't back out. They will catch more than one rabbit which purse nets fail to do if you have one bolt straight after the first. Some ferreters use thes
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Thanks for the advice guys and confirmation on the 6z. Unfortunately I have not been able to source anything close to what I want in 4z and the 6z is obviously close but can only find that in 4" mesh. I know it would be easy to get what I wanted if I bought in bulk and ordered a mile of the stuff...but that is way too much for what I want. I'll keep up the search. Might PM Steaming gut. Regards, Fergus
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Hi, I'm just after some advice on the suitability for making a longnet with 4 inch sheet mesh, 15 meshes deep made of 210/18 denier size twine? If I am right; 4 oz neeting is 210/12, then 210/18 I assume is even finer again... but would it be too fine? Also what twine size is 6 oz? I am really struggling to find suitable longnetting mesh in Australia. Any advice appreciated. Fergus
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Yes I did do that, and I'm not sure if he would have grown out of biting or not, but that's what I did cause that's what I heard works and maybe a lot of what I did was unessesary, but it worked for me. Hissing is negative ferret speak so I gave it a try and it didn't take too long- 5 days maybe and he doesn't even look like biting me or the kids. These weren't ferrets that I had bred so I didn't know what they would be like as they matured or if he was going to always bite. Maybe the negative re-enforcement of putting him in a cage to isolate the ferret would serve no purpose at all-I don't k
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I have a pair of 6 month olds. The hob was really nasty at 2 1/2 months of age when I got him. Biteing fingers and hissing like I was food. Well I just took my finger back from him, grabbed him by the scruff and hissed back at his face and yelled "NO" put him back in the cage and played with the other ferret in front of him so he saw what he was missing out on. His caper didn't last very long after those reprimands and now my 4 year old daughter carries him round no fear and he hasn't looked like biting. Its good to be a little rough patting them to get them even more used to you. In saying al
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Personally have never been a fan of leads. Handleing them doesn't exercise them really. Mine like to be on the ground playing and walking about more than being held. Try and get them to some open space like a park or the beach. I used to walk mine on a golf course of an evening and they just follow me around and romp with each other. I find they are particularily active early morning and late evening. I don't think you can handle them enough. If they are fitter they will hunt longer in a day.
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I had a couple of Jills once that bolted nearly everything that would and if there was a rabbit that gave them some grief they would work them for a bit and then come out and I moved on to the next warren. I've always liked Jills for that reason and it suited me. The hobs can be too big and strong and seem to able to hold the rabbits and make a kill as already has been said.In saying all that I did have to wait for them both a couple of times so there is no garentee with any ferret. -
You get the odd black rabbit down this way too..They are often specific to one particular area and will be there for generations. Sandy ones are pretty rare. Get a few different coloured ones which are obvious offspring from escapee pet rabbits- nearly always around semi suberbia. They are still wild as. I've only ever got one pure albino rabbit but still think he had pet rabbit genetics. Get a few with white blotches which I always thought had something to do with inbreeding.
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I wish there was someone here in Australia that can fix them. I don't reckon any hobby electronic enthusiats would have ever heard of one.
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That sure is a lot of bunnies. The one's you have there look pretty plump too.
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That's the way... get them into it when they are young. Sure beats plonking them down in front of the television or computer games.
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It had been about 5 years since I had kept ferrets. I had only just bought a couple- mostly as pets for the kids but hopefully to be good working ferrets also. I'd been told of a property 30 mins from home with a lot of burrows and getting the permission to ferret was no problem. Burrowing rabbits are really tough to find in this neck of the woods, most opt to live life above the ground in the bush or thickets where ferreting is nigh on impossible. So finding this place was a real treat. When we arrived at 10am quite a few rabbits were running about which was promising. Myxo or Calicivirus n
